Common Causes of Car Pulling to One Side

How to Fix The Problem of Your Car Pulling to One Side

Driving should be a smooth and controlled experience, but when your car starts pulling to one side, it can become a source of concern. This issue can be not only annoying but also potentially dangerous, as it affects the vehicle’s handling and stability. A car that pulls to one side requires immediate attention to diagnose and fix the underlying problem. This article explores the most common causes of a car pulling to one side and offers insights into how to address these issues.

Exploring the Most Common Causes of a Car Pulling to One Side and the Circumstances When it Happens

1) Car pulls to one side when driving or coasting: Causes

The key point here is that the car pulls to one side when it isn’t under heavy acceleration. If you’re coasting on a fairly level road, the car will pull to one side when it’s supposed to be going straight.

• Road crown— Road crown can cause a pull to the right. All roads have a slight crown to drain water off the surface. Road crown can cause a slight pull to the right when you’re in the right lane of a four-lane road. However, if you’re driving in the left lane of the same road and it still pulls to the right, the cause is not road crown.

• Underinflation— If one front tire is underinflated, you’ll experience a car pull towards the side with the underinflated tire. The cause of the pull is increased rolling resistance from the underinflated tire. Check tire inflation and see if the problem goes away

• A stuck brake caliper— If you notice the car pull during a stop, you may have a stuck brake caliper that’s not releasing the brake pads. That causes one wheel to drag and results in a car pull to that side. Raise the vehicle, apply the brakes, then rotate the wheels. If one wheel is much harder to turn, chances are that brake caliper is stuck.

To fix the problem, see this post.

• Mis-alignment problems— When the camber is off, the top of the tire tilts inward or outward. That causes a car pull to the side that has the greatest positive or negative camber. A four-wheel alignment will fix the problem.

• Tire conicity can cause a pull to one side— If you drive a vehicle for extended periods with positive or negative camber, you can actually wear the tire into a cone shape. Even if you then have an alignment performed, the coned tire will still cause a pull to one side.

• A Broken belt in tire can cause tire pull— This one is pretty self explanatory. Look a the tire and you can see why it won’t track straight.

2) Your Car pulls to one side when you’re accelerating

• Torque steer— Torque Steer causes a car to pull to one side and is caused by one axle shaft being shorter than the other. The longer axle shaft twists slightly on heavy acceleration, causing a slight lag in the transfer of power to that wheel. The wheel with the shortest axle will be the dominant axle and propel the car to that side.

Torque steer was far more common on early front-wheel drive vehicles when engineers didn’t compensate for the twisting motion. Late-model front-wheel drive vehicles rarely encounter torque steer pull. However, if you’ve recently had transmission or major engine work performed on your vehicle and now experience it, that could be the cause. In that case, the shop may not have perfectly centered the engine/transmission in the engine cradle. Being off-center by as little as ¼” can induce torque steer where it wasn’t present before. In that case, take the vehicle back to the shop and have them check alignment and centering.

• Suspension System Problems—  Worn or damaged suspension components, such as control arms, bushings, or struts, can affect the car’s alignment and cause it to pull to one side. Suspension issues can also lead to uneven tire wear, exacerbating the pulling problem.

©, 2020 Rick Muscoplat